ipl-logo

All Quiet On The Western Front 'And War Triptych'

931 Words4 Pages

World War I is a well-known historical event, which resulted in immense casualties and distress in the early 20th century. The war paved the way for significant political changes to occur, and entirely reshaped the European map. Propaganda of the war was published once veterans and families were comfortable enough to share their experiences subsequent to the drastic war. Erich Maria Remarque 's All Quiet on the Western Front and Otto Dix 's "Transporting the Wounded in Houthulst Forest" and "War Triptych," portray the notion that war dehumanizes its soldiers and strips them of their identities. Remarque demonstrates this idea by telling solemn stories about soldiers in the war, while Dix renders graphic images of the horrors of war. Both …show more content…

In comparison to Dix, Remarque 's All Quiet on the Western Front depicts soldiers who are used to fighting on the front line; forcing them to forget how to adjust into a civilized society considering the horrors they face on a daily basis. Soldiers ' are familiar with their obligations on the front line as opposed to when they enter the real world after the war. Remarque includes a passage in which Paul, the protagonist of the novel, fights against his own conscience, reconnects with human morals, and ultimately concludes that war is real and that he must learn to adapt to it. After Paul stabs a Frenchman, he immediately questions if he would 've committed the killing if it were his loved ones, which uncovers his guilt built up inside of him. The author states, "Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and this uniform you could be my brother," implementing that there is no significant difference between all those who participate in war (pg. 223). In addition, Remarque includes a scene in which a soldier accompanies sick friends room to acquire his boots after his expected death. This illustrates the soldier 's selfishness since his scheme for the boots is quite inappropriate given the sick person 's situation (pg. 21). Lastly, Remarque incorporates a passage in which people faint while waiting to be served bones due to their lack of energy. The scene shows how the country is falling apart and could not provide its army with the basic necessities needed for keeping people alive and healthy. Remarque 's novel mainly focuses on telling terrifying stories that occurred in the war to show just how soldiers come out of war as

Show More
Related
403 Words | 2 Pages

War is a harsh reality that is inflicted upon the unwilling through the “need” of it’s predecessors and those whom wish it. All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is about 19 year old Paul and his friends in the “Second Company”. Even though they are just out of school age, they have already seen things that many could not bear to even think about. Eventually, all of his friends die, and even Paul too, dies. Remarque uses diction and syntax as literary devices to express his anti-war theme, or lesson.

Read More
617 Words | 3 Pages

Remarque uses the thematic concept of sacrifice to impact the plot of the story and to show how soldiers had to live during this time period. Throughout the novel, Remarque writes about many different types of sacrifices. For the majority of World War I, sacrifices were constantly being made. These sacrifices included time, money, future, education and even lives. Early in the book, the reader is introduced to one of the first sacrifices mentioned in the book.

Read More
857 Words | 4 Pages

Kemmerich, Paul’s classmate, is visited by his fellow soldiers at the hospital after he wounded his thigh. He states to Paul that “they have amputated my leg”, and as Paul tries to comfort him, Kemmerich explains how he “wanted to become a head-forester once” (Remarque 27-28). After being incited through nationalistic pressures by his teacher, Kemmerich enlists in the army only to lose a part of himself. Kemmerich’s lose and the cold pointlessness of his eventual death disillusions the idea that there is honor in war. Remarque also shows opposition to the war later on in the book when he illustrates a scene of soldiers starting to question the actions of the higher authorities and pondering the reasons for war.

Read More
602 Words | 3 Pages

The book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque gives us a good understanding of what war was like for the people fighting on the front. When reading this book people can get a front hand experience of what it is like being in battle. Remarque wrote this book so well that often times you picture yourself actually with Paul and all his friends. The one thing you specifically get to see is how humanity affects warfare. Humanity affects our decisions in warfare because humans are selfish, have fear, and seek revenge.

Read More
544 Words | 3 Pages

The book All Quiet on the western front, by Erich maria Remarque, tells the story of young men who have been convinced to join world war 1 and fight with germany. The narrator of the book is paul, a 18 year old that explains what his friends and him do during the war. War has harmful effects on people due to a loss of identity and breaking families apart. War hands harmful effects on people due to a loss of identity.

Read More
1667 Words | 7 Pages

All Quiet on the Western Front is a story, in which it allows people to know the true horrors of war. Throughout the story and in Erich Maria Remarque’s writing he uses many literary devices to emphasize what he experienced and the emotions he felt. The devices that he used are used in order to help the readers understand his experience and emphasize the theme of his war novel. Throughout this essay, I will show you a few of the literary devices used within the novel that emphasized the theme, the brutality of war. Within this essay you will learn about imagery, metaphors, and symbolism.

Read More
1079 Words | 5 Pages

However it may seem, this is not violence simply for the shock factor, neither is it simply included to add realism to the novel. Instead this is an effort on Remarque’s behalf to communicate the human aspect of war, and describe the immense suffering that could be inflicted on any soldier during the GReat War. Through the use of the Narrator Paul Baumer, and the graphic imagery and description, Remarque illustrates the suffering that a soldier had to go through, both psychological and physical. The physical injuries sustained by men on the frontline in All quiet on the western front were absolutely horrendous. Remarque communicated this through his vivid use of gore and graphic imagery, however did was not supposed to be a surprise factor, but more for the reader to truly understand what soldier could go through.

Read More
665 Words | 3 Pages

Erich Maria Remarque was a man who had lived through the terrors of war, serving since he was eighteen. His first-hand experience shines through the text in his famous war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, which tells the life of young Paul Bäumer as he serves during World War 1. The book was, and still is, praised to be universal. The blatant show of brutality, and the characters’ questioning of politics and their own self often reaches into the hearts of the readers, regardless of who or where they are. Brutality and images of war are abundant in this book, giving the story a feeling of reality.

Read More
841 Words | 4 Pages

"All Quiet on the Western Front" is a war novel by Erich Maria Remarque that reveals the ways in which war is not glorious, and the ways in which destroys a soldier 's happiness, innocence, and youthfulness. In addition, it uses imagery and characterization to describe some of the hardships the soldiers face in the trenches and at the front. Likewise, "Suicide in the Trenches" is a poem by Siegfried Sassoon that glosses over these topics as well, in the form of a poem. While both Remarque 's "All Quiet on the Western Front" and Sassoon 's "Suicide in the Trenches" portray war as a destroyer of innocence and youthfulness, Remarque 's use of characterization to illustrate the theme is more effective than Sassoon 's use of imagery and word play, because it is more

Read More
140 Words | 1 Pages

To Kill a Mocking Bird. One of the most interesting stories we 've ever read. It goes on to tell us a story about a town in the 1930 's called may comb. It a small little town where everyone knows each other. The story is driven by two main protagonists Jem and Scout.

Read More
1064 Words | 5 Pages

However, when they were sent out into the midst of the war many of them realised the misconceptions they had and were led to believe. They became disillusioned as they realized that the war was much more brutal and horrific than they had previously believed. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Remarque effectively comments on the horrors of war from Paul’s perspective, especially when Paul comments on injuries the soldiers endure and witness by stating “We see men go on living with the top of their skulls missing; we see soldiers go on running when both their feet have been shot away…Another man…with his guts spilling out over his hands as he holds them in.” (Remarque,

Read More
1091 Words | 5 Pages

From 1914 to 1918 World War One occurred due to the murder of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by a Serbian group named the Black Hand. Additionally, several powerful countries, including Germany, France, and Britain, established a series of alliances that amplifies the size of the war. Likewise, the war expanded by the strong nationalist beliefs of each country, therefore a countless amount of men desired to fight the war, in order to support their country. This sense of nationalism is a theme explored throughout Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front, through the lense of a young German Soldier. The protagonist, Paul, a 19 year old soldier, explores the horrors of war through strong comradeship, the death of companions,

Read More
748 Words | 3 Pages

The First World War was a lengthy and brutal affair that claimed the lives of over 17 million individuals. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, its effects were equally as ferocious on the intellectual front, where it marked a turning point in the clash of European intellectual values. Philosophers such as Nietzsche had already challenged established institutions of Positivistic thinking toward knowledge and progress; however, his movement lacked widespread support. It was the disaster of WWI that accelerated their movement by inspiring culture-wide undermining of prior intellectual beliefs through newfound uncertainty: authors such as Erich Remarque and Vera Brittain drew upon sudden doubt underscored by the war to completely reverse prior thinking by breaking down pre-war notions of intellectual

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

"Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and uniforms you could be my brother just like Kat and Albert (Remarque 223)". Comradeship among soldiers is a major theme throughout the novel, "All Quiet on the Western Front" because the soldiers knew each other before the war, protected each other during combat, and can relate to one another without having to literally speak. This story 's theme shows comradeship because Paul and the other soldiers were in class together before joining the war. In the beginning of the novel Paul introduces his friends he went to school with before going to war with. "

Read More
530 Words | 3 Pages

“When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best…They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.” Leading up to the 2016 presidential election in November, there has been an influx in discussion about topics concerning the US. The topic that has gotten a lot of attention is the US immigration laws, specifically illegal immigration. Now there can't be anyone in the world who hasn't heard Donald Trump’s infamous opinions about the matter but let me fill you in.

Read More

More about All Quiet On The Western Front 'And War Triptych'

Related Topics

Open Document